Flickering ‘alien’ lights in Charlotte sky spark UFO theories. Is this all it was?
A mysterious band of flickering lights sparked UFO conspiracies when it slinked across Charlotte’s sky late Thursday night.
This isn’t the first time the line has sparked theories from those gazing below. In May, a person exclaimed “It’s the aliens!” in a video shared to X, formerly known as Twitter.
But the flashing lights were just Elon Musk — or at least his satellites, according to local meteorologist Brad Panovich.
Musk’s SpaceX Starlink satellites, the “world’s first and largest satellite constellation,” closely orbit Earth to deliver high-speed internet to its customers, according to the SpaceX website.
The Starlink tracker showed the satellites moved overhead from Hickory to Statesville Thursday and will again be visible Friday night.
The fleet, introduced in 2019, gained 56 satellites after a launch from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Thursday, according to SpaceX.
The aerospace company has launched more than 4,000 Starlink satellites, and about 300 are no longer in orbit, according toastronomer Jonathan McDowell.
SpaceX is expected to launch its next Starlink batch Tuesday, according to Space Coast Launches.
This story was originally published May 5, 2023 at 10:36 AM.
